“Remy!” Skidding across the kitchen floor, she ran for the front door. What if some neighborhood kidhad wandered close to the house? Would that have set off the alarm?
And would Remy be able to think clearly enough to assess a threat?
“Wait!” she screamed over the alarm peeling its high, electronic screech.
A man’s shout drew her to the open garage.
“The cops are already on the way,” Remy was telling someone.
Her legs couldn’t run fast enough, a bad feeling in her gut.
Patrick, her ex-boyfriend, stood in her garage. Cowered in her garage, really. He held up an old lawn chair in front of himself as protection from Remy, who wielded the two-by-four like a bat.
There was a tiny, fleeting moment of pleasure to see Patrick scared out of his mind. He’d deceived her, his wife and—most importantly—his own children. She could never forgive him for that. But, coming to her senses, she also knew he didn’t deserve to be on the terrifying end of Remy Weldon’s very real demons.
“Remy.” She spoke loud enough to be heard over the alarm. “Please disconnect the alarm. I know this man.”
“What?” He turned slightly her way but didn’t put down the weapon.
“Please relax. This is someone I know.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, her fingers soothing the cold tension in his muscles.
Slowly, Remy lowered the board. Nodded. Seemed to come to his senses. When he yanked his phone out of his pocket and deactivated the alarm, she took her first deep breath in long, frightening minutes.
“Erin, who the hell is this maniac?” Patrick squeaked inan octave he probably hadn’t touched since eighth grade. He kept his hold on the lawn chair, the fraying yellow netting trailing along his T-shirt.
“I don’t owe you explanations, Patrick, but you certainly owe me one.” She’d told him in no uncertain terms she never wanted to see him again. “What the hell are you doing here? I made it very clear what I think of you.”
Remy glanced up, no doubt hearing the frustration in her voice, but he remained calm. “I should call the security people to let them know it’s a false alarm. Should I wait, or will you be all right?” Remy’s gaze flicked to Patrick and back to her.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “He’s obnoxious and unwelcome, but he’s not dangerous. And he’s definitely about to leave, but thank you.”
Remy nodded, not going far. He stood in the driveway near her car as he made his phone calls.
“Erin.” Patrick’s voice had returned to semi-normal. He set the chair down. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I came all the way here hoping to win you back. I saw you on that television show and it felt like—I don’t know—fate or something. I needed to try one more time.”
“You don’t get it.” She leaned on the riding lawn mower, still not fully recovered from the fear of seeing Remy take off after an intruder. “I will never want to be with a man who lies to me or cheats on his wife. Even if you promised never to lie or cheat again, I would never trust you.”
“Erin—”
“Nope. Listen. I would also never be with a man who didn’t do everything he could to be there for his kids.” She ticked off this second all-important point on her fingers, thinking how much better a father Remy was—even when he wasn’t at his best. “You missed birthday partiesto fly around the country and be with your mistress. It doesn’t matter that it was me. That disgusts me.” It hurt to think she’d been a part of that. To picture some disappointed child’s face—even one she’d never met—and imagine it was her fault his father hadn’t been there for a baseball game or a party or some other part of his young life.
“I did put you first,” Patrick said. “You have to know that you are special to me, so much so I risked my family.” He stepped around a croquette set to move closer until Erin arched an eyebrow. He stepped back. “That’s half the reason I figured I had a shot if I came down here in person. I knew that was important to you. I don’t see how you could think I’d ever put you second when I gave up everything for you.”
His face was so earnest. He truly didn’t understand. And she truly did not want him. She’d been so determined to find a man who loved her above all else, she’d fallen for a guy who said all the right things and made himself available whenever she was free. She knew now that wasn’t what she wanted. Sure, she wanted to be important in a man’s life. But she needed an equal partner. Someone who could bolster her when she needed it, and someone who could lean on her, too. Patrick wasn’t half the man Remy was.
“Surprising as it may seem, Patrick, I actually would never want to win out over a child for first place in any man’s heart.”
“Okay.” He nodded slowly, his neatly combed hair out of place, his T-shirt stained from the rusty leg of the old lawn chair he’d used as a shield. “I’m going. But can I ask you a question first?”
“I can’t promise I’ll answer.” She was letting time slip away. Time she could be spending with Remy. They had a lot to sort out.
A lot more than she’d realized. Nothing had happened the way she had hoped it would today, and her chest burned with the weight of what it meant. The loneliness and hurt that waited on the other side of this day. But now more than ever, she knew she couldn’t settle for having only half of a man’s attention.
“Why were we together in the first place?” Patrick shoved his hands in his pockets, still keeping one eye on Remy out in the driveway.
Erin watched Remy now, too, his broad shoulders rolling as he walked out to meet her mother in the meadow midway between their houses. They’d met briefly earlier in the week. No doubt her mother had been concerned after hearing the security alarm.
Remy could even settle her mother, his easy Cajun charm going to work on Erin’s parent in a way she recognized in Mom’s body language. Shoulders relaxing. Feminine laugher ringing out over the meadow as she threw her head back at some shared joke. God, she’d fallen for that same charm despite knowing the darker layers underneath it. Turning her attention back to Patrick, she tried to puzzle together why she’d ever noticed him in the first place.
